Millionaires to Obama: Tax usAnti-tax activists everywhere have been loudly arguing for an extension of George W. Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans in the United States. Now a group of millionaires is arguing the opposite.

More than 40 of the nation's millionaires have joined Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength to ask President Obama to discontinue the tax breaks established for them during the Bush administration, as Salon reports.

How many country clubs did they have to troll through to find that many people eager to have the government devour MORE than half their earnings? The top 5% of wage earners in this country already foot around 90% of the tax burden. My opinion: these guys are morons.

Hey, nobody's stopping them from donating their excess income to the government!

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How many country clubs did they have to troll through to find that many people eager to have the government devour MORE than half their earnings? The top 5% of wage earners in this country already foot around 90% of the tax burden. My opinion: these guys are morons.

They must be morons. Why would anyone want to give? Yet, Christ gave everything.

Giving one's life for lost souls and giving one's hard earned dollars to a bloated, wasteful bureacracy are hardly the same thing, AHD. And I'm not against paying what's required. But if all God requires is 10%, where does ANY government get off demanding that some people pay 40% of their annual income, in addition to massive taxes on their property that have to be paid EVERY YEAR, even if the property has been in their family for generations. Then every single purchase they make is also taxed, as are their business transactions. And, oh yeah, if some in Congress get their way, after the government takes half their income every year for their entire productive lives, when they die, the government will take another 40% of what is left before allowing the remainder to be passed on to their children. That is insanity!

I am fine with GIVING. People are free to GIVE all they want to the charity of their choice, including the United States Government. But I think it is immoral, evil, and wrong for any government to assume that it is entitled to HALF or more of everything you earn in a lifetime, just because you happen to be financially successful.

Frankly, AHD my friend, your reply was an apples to oranges comparison and a rather cheap shot.

AHD raised an interesting point - is the request for lower taxation consistent with the Christian ideal of "giving"? Given that there are several Christians on this board that also gripe against taxes (progressive taxes in particular, in my case), I think it is a fair distinction to make. Indy addressed the point.

What's the big deal?

Did you lurk on this forum for any period of time before you started posting? Because these guys (and myself from time to time) have back-and-forth discussions like this all the time (we discuss religion a LOT, as well as other "controversial" topics)...and generally with mutual respect and at the end of it all, we have all typically learned something new not only about the subject but also about the other people on the board.

I find it kind of refreshing. I hear plenty of arguments for a more voluntary system of paying for things, but never from anyone who sounds like they'd pay their share if they had a choice. It's nice to see people who can afford to pay more stepping up and suggesting that they should.

First, Christ gave everything and he demanded alot of his followers but they could leave. If you don't give the government taxes you go to jail. So it's voluntarily giving verses coercian. He also said render unto caesar what is caesars, not I am working through the state so giving them is the same to giving to me.

As for milionaires or even billionaires they are not a monolithic group. I see Mort Zuckerman on Mghlaughlin group and he speaks matter of factly about raising taxes to meet he budget. he is for it. Other of these guys aren't.

There aer a number of reasons for a really rich person to be for this and against it. being for it publicly is of course good publicity. It may be principled too. It may be out of fear of a bigger catastrophe that the 700 billion this will "cost" (I know it's not the same thing but in terms of the budget) may precipitate.

The problem is there simply isn't a popular political party that can cut the budget in a meaningful way. The republicans are obsessed with war and "defense" *(offense, really) and any money they save from the other areas will likely go to that so they are not much help. Liberals of course have their constituencies unions, federal workers etc.

I saw some democrat womans response to the rather sensible deficit commissions suggestions and it was just a bunch of normal democatic talking points. That's kind of the way things are going to go. Probably the republicans will make sure the defense stuff isn't at all significant and the thing they finally come up with will not even come close to slowiong down the debt train.

* I think republicans think we get PAID to fight wars. That's the only way their support for it squares in any way with their alleged conservatism.

Giving is giving. Paying taxes is patriotic. I am perplexed by people who aren't rich, but defend the rich (even to their own detriment) because... they hope to be rich someday, or dream of so being, and don't want to risk their imaginary millions into government coffers...